Baby sitter's daughter charged with stealing from family

Updated 1:59 pm, Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Kyler Cottrell, 27, of 186 Lakeview Ave., New Canaan, was arrested May 7 on charges of five counts of credit card theft, illegal use of credit card and fifth-degree larceny.

A Gerdes Road resident contacted police March 22 after he noticed multiple fraudulent transactions on several of his credit cards, which were all missing, according to the report.

The 46-year-old victim told police most of the charges, which total $3,447, were made at Home Depot stores in Norwalk and Fairfield as well as pharmacies and gas stations around Fairfield County between March 7 and 20, police said.

During the investigation, police obtained surveillance video from several of the locations until the victim identified his baby sitter's daughter, Cottrell, as the suspect, according to police.

Police Sgt. Carol Ogrinc said Cottrell had gone to the residence while her mother was babysitting, but the mother, who also was questioned by police, does not seem to be involved.

With the victim's Home Depot credit card, Cottrell spent $1,362 at the Norwalk store between March 7 and 12, including three purchases in one day, according to police. She also spent $166 at the Fairfield Home Depot, police said.

She used the victim's Master Card 15 times and spent $968, police said, and used another Master Card belonging to the victim 18 different times for a total of $668. Cottrell also spent $283 with the man's Visa credit card, police said.

Besides Home Depot, pharmacies and gas stations, police said Cottrell used the cards at the Darien Stop & Shop and made several charges at Metro-North.

The victim said he's missing yet another credit card but there have been no fraudulent charges made against it, police said. The man also reported missing an iPad, but police have not charged Cottrell with stealing the device.

After learning of a warrant for her arrest, Cottrell turned herself in at 12:30 p.m. May 7.